approaches for offending Flashcards
when was the historical approach created
1870
who created the historical approach
lombroso
what did Lombroso say about criminals
said that criminals have physical characteristics have more primitive stages of development
what where these features called
atavistic features
how did Lombroso carry out his experiment
used 4,000 Italian criminals and 400 dead ones and studied them
findings of this study
said that the atavistic features where a heavy jaw, large strong jaw, large ears, extra nipples and extra finger/toes
Other research on atavistic features
Goring- compared London convicts with a control group. He failed to replicate lombroso’s study and showed there was no link.
Hooton- found features but they were different to lombrosos feature findings
positives of the historical approach
- it was progressive for the time as before they believe criminality stemmed for a religious stand point.
- features may be linked to committing crimes
counterpoint- but Agnew for that these linked to criminality as they would be met with unappealing comments which would have made them feel self conscious due to having undesirable features
negatives of the historical approach
- there was no control group as he only measured facial features. it has had to draw a conclusion, only correlations can be established
- lombroso may have included disabled people in his sample which would skew the results as some disabilities have an impact on physical appearance.
- unhelpful stereotype which can lead people into being classed as criminals when they are not
studies for genetic relation to criminality
twin studies, family studies and adoption studies
twin studies example
christiansen reviewed 3586 pairs of twins. MZ twins has a 35% concordance rate and DZ twins had a 13% concordance rate. this shows there is some genetic explanation
family studies example
farrington found that 75% of people with a criminal mum and a criminal dad were also offenders themselves
adoption studies example
children had behaviours 16% similar to adopted parents and 43% similar to there birth parents. shows that even though they didn’t grow up with them they still influenced there behaviour some how
positives of the genetic approach
- MZ twins had a higher concordance rate then DZ twins
- it would explain why adopted children are more similar to biological parents as they have had to influence environmentally from them
- there is studies to back it up
negatives of the genetic approach
- if genetics was the only explanation, MZ concordance rate would be 100% and DZ would have 50% but it isn’t so there must be external factors.
- MZ twins are treated more similarly as they look the same so would explain why they are more alike.
- The stress of adoption could lead to offending behaviours and not a genetic influence from their biological parents
what is Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality
he believed that all personalities are made up of certain traits and the level you work at them traits determines your personality.
what is Eysenck’s three personalities
extraversion- social, impulsive, expressive and risk taking.
neuroticism- nervous, anxious, obsessive
psychoticism- insensitive, unconventional and lacks conscience.
biological basis to the theory
extraversion- seeks stimulation from the environment to raise level of cortical.
neuroticism- the autonomic nervous system. those with neuroticism would have a fast reaction
psychoticism- testosterone links
research to support eysenck
heaven- longitudinal study monitoring 282 14 year olds. showed that psychoticism was the best judge of delinquency
limitation to Eysenck’s theory
. gives an excuse to people as it is a predisposition.
. original sample was not representative so cant be generalised to the population
. it is a self report so can easily make up the results
neural explanation for biochemistry
serotonin- mood and impulse control. less serotonin means more likely to be impulsive
noradrenaline- fight and flight. more noradrenaline the more violent and aggressive
dopamine- addiction control. more dopamine means more likely to get addicted to substances which would be a motive for crimes such as stealing